Lost'd and Foundeth

If it's real, it's the literary find of the century. New York antiquarian booksellers Daniel Wechsler and George Koppelman believe they have found William Shakespeare's annotated dictionary.

We know that Shakespeare had an eye out for unusual words - but we have only limited knowledge of where he went to find them.

The book itself is John Baret's An Alvearie or Quadruple Dictionarie, published in 1580. It was listed on eBay in late April 2008. They placed a bid of $US4300 and got it for $US4050. Wechsler is unequivocal, "only $250 separated us from never having had this experience."